Secrets of Coding
by Walking in Little Circles
Summary: Turbo has returned, and this time he has taken over Fix-it Felix Jr. turned Felix into a glitch, and took everyone's memories. Ralph, Vanellope, Sgt. Calhoun, along with Felix's father, must discover how to program video games and why glitches and virus exist.
1. Coding Breach

It all started after Felix and Calhoun's six-month anniversary party, and the one of the most amazing night of Felix's life. The guests had left, and Felix and Ralph were cleaning up, Felix with his hammer and Ralph in the hard-to reach spots. "Glad I'm out of the clean-up crew for next week's party," said Ralph.

"What's the party for again?" asked Felix, fixing the hole that had been made from one of Calhoun men shooting a bug.

"Pac-Man's debut on some system. Anyways, I can't go, I have a Ban-anon meeting that day. Turns out the Pac-ghosts weren't even in that game and wanted to still have the meeting, so Pac-man is having his party here."

"Oh yeah, you told me. Hey Ralph!" called Felix "Can you help me reach the ceiling?"

Ralph helped Felix fix the crack in the ceiling. "Thank you kindly," said Felix. "We should hurry and get ready. The arcade opens in ten minutes. Cleaning up took a surprising amount of time. "

"You know what? Your wife's co-workers should stop shooting every bug they see. That would save a lot of cleaning time." Ralph remarked slyly.

"It would." Felix grinned. "I actually think it would be worth the money to buy bug...OW!" Felix suddenly broke off in a loud yell.

"Felix? Are you okay?" Ralph asked.

Felix cried out. He had the most killer headache in the history of his life. The room began to blur as the room grew dimmer and dimmer...and then suddenly it became clear again.

"Felix?" inquired Ralph, a deep frown on his face. "Is something wrong? Do you need me to fetch someone?"

Felix didn't answer. He could only think of what his father had told him long ago, when he had first come to the arcade. "As hero of your game, Felix, the control box is your responsibility. There may be people who come along and try to mess with it. You will know when that happens. It is your duty to stop them."

_The control room_...Felix swore under his breath.

"Excuse me?" asked Ralph. "Did you say what I thought you did?"

"Ralph! Follow me!" Felix ran to the secret door hidden on the side of the bookcase and opened it. "This leads to the control room," Felix told Ralph. "And I think someone's trying to mess with it."

"The control room? You mean the spot where all the data information in a game comes together?" Ralph's eyes widened. "I thought that was just a myth!"

"Well, I did too, until my dad showed me!" Felix responded back.

They ran down all fourteen flights of stairs and came to a door, locked by an NES controller.

"Let's see," murmured Felix, pressing some buttons. "I think this is it."

Felix wasn't sure what he was going to find in that room, although he had plenty of guesses. Maybe it was his father, somehow finding out about his marriage to Calhoun and trying to erase it. Maybe it was one of the Homeless characters. Maybe it was Q*Bert. He had shown it where the Controller was, in case he was incapacitated for some reason.

What he wasn't expecting to find was Turbo.

Felix was rendered speechless. Ralph, however, was the exact opposite. 'Why Turbo, you little fu..."

"OW!" yelled Felix, felling the headache coming on again.

"Sorry," said Turbo, who was obviously not sorry at all. "I'm just removing Felix from the game and taking everyone's memories. It's a little painful, I know, I know. But you won't remember any of it." Turbo smiled nastily.

"In fact, just one more wire..."

"Stop!" yelled Ralph at the same time Felix yelled "No!"

Turbo pulled the wire and Felix crumpled to the floor, glitching. Ralph crumpled on the floor next to him, holding his head in pain.

"And now for everyone's memories," said Turbo. He pulled a huge chest out the back of his coat. In it he stuffed the citizen's memory as well as the memories of all the bonus level characters.

"That's that." Turbo let out a maniacal laugh. "Now for the new programing." Turbo took out another code square, labeled, "Repairman Frank."

"And now for Felix's memory," said Turbo, laughing his head off. He tried to stuff Felix's memory coding in the box, but it wouldn't go. "Must have missed a wire," muttered Turbo. He paddled over to Felix's box and saw that there was indeed still a wire there. "But I know I pulled that!" Turbo swore under his breath. He tried to pull the wire again, but it stuck.

Turbo sighed. "Guess I'll have to cut it then." Turbo didn't like snipping wires; the results weren't as guaranteed. There was a small chance that the wires would reattach and Felix would regain his memory again. But Turbo didn't have a choice. The arcade was opening in five minutes. Turbo quickly cut the wire and paddled away while stealing the hammer from a groggy Felix while pulling Ralph outside.

"Quarter alert. Quarter alert." the voice echoed throughout the game.

Turbo quickly changed into his disguise and ran out, golden hammer help up high.

"I can fix it!" Repairman Frank yelled.


	2. Dreams

**AN: No, I'm not going to stick an AN at the beggining of the chapter, I just need to do it right now. You see, I'm having dificulty at which chapter I should write next. I have one on Felix looking for his diary and one on Ralph's expedition to find Felix some stuff. I'm going to put a pull on my profile so I can see your opinions. And by the way, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

_Felix was in the middle of the ocean somewhere, on an island. Q*Bert was standing next to him as well as a boy with a cowboy hat, black hair, freckles, and a piece of straw hanging from his mouth._

"_Well?" said the boy, skipping a rock seven hops "Didn't I find a nice place to practice skipping rocks?"_

"_Yeah," Felix agreed. "It's nice here." Felix's rock made a large splash when he tried to skip it._

"_Not like that!" chided the boy. 'like this." The boy proceeded to move Felix into a proper rock-skipping position. _

"_But Wheely, that's what I did!" Felix protested._

_Wheely laughed. "Obviously not, or you would've skipped that one!"_

"_ #$%&* ?" Q*Bert bleeped._

"_I don't know." said Felix, frowning. "Wheely, did you happen to see the name of the game we went into?"_

_Wheely shook his head. "Nope. Can't read. Why does it matter?"_

_Much to Felix's surprise, he found himself speaking Q*Bertese. "%&*$ % ^. $$ * &%&% %*?"_

"

_Felix turned around and saw a large black fin in the water heading towards them._

"_Shark!" he yelled._

* * *

Felix woke up, startled. For a minute, he didn't know where he was. Then he remembered; the brick pile, like usual. Felix rubbed his head and stared with longing at the scene in front of him. It was the bonus level of Repairman Frank._ If only I could join in, _Felix thought. But he knew that was impossible. He was a glitch, and he would cause the game to be unplugged if he joined in. It was still a longing, something he wanted,no, needed to do. Even though he had known for 30 years that it would be impossible. He sighed and kicked a brick.

"The Arcade is now closed," a voice announced.

Felix watched as Ralph brushed the mud off himself and walk over to the dump, having been thrown off the roof again. "Felix. I'm going out." Ralph announced. "You want something?"

Felix nodded. "Candy would be nice. And maybe a root beer from Tappers."

Ralph nodded. "Okay then. A root beer it is. Don't count on the candy though. I'm not sure where I would find some." Ralph turned to leave.

"Ralph, can you do one more thing for me?" asked Felix.

"What?" said Ralph.

Felix hesitated. Would Ralph dismiss his dream as another wishful fantasy? Deciding he had to know,

"Your point?" interrupted Ralph.

"Well..." Felix hesitated. "If you run into that boy, tell me."

"Felix," said Ralph kindly. "That boy was just from a dream."

"That's the thing. I'm not sure if he was a dream. I think he's real."

Ralph frowned. "Is this like the time you had a dream that you were fixing some candy-haired girl's go-kart with Frank's hammer?"

"Yes! Please, Ralph, can you look for her and that boy? " Felix pleaded.

Ralph sighed. "Alright, Felix. Alright." Ralph rolled his eyes and hopped on the train as it rattled out of the game.

Felix sadly watched him go. "Ralph doesn't believe me." he sighed. If only he could leave his game. If only, if only, if only. Then he could find out for sure.

Suddenly, he felt a splintering headache come on. Not again! Felix thought. He glitched, then passed out.

* * *

_He was in the penthouse. It was a party, and everyone was dancing, drinking, and having a good time. It was strange, considering he had never been to a party. _

"_Felix my boy!" shouted someone. _

_The man who had called Felix's name had brown hair, a beard and large blue eyes. "I got something for you."_

_Felix took the present. "Well, golly! Thank you kindly Father." He opened it. "Why, it's a diary!"_

"_I know you don't write much," said his father. "But it's always useful to have somewhere to record your thoughts sometimes." _

"_Thank you! I'll Put it under my bed." Felix said._

"_No. Everyone always looks there first. Hm..." his father suddenly grinned. "I have a better idea. Why not put it in your underwear drawer?"  
"Father!" yelled Felix, blushing. "That's disgusting!"_

_His father chuckled. "Alright, alright. How about your sock drawer instead?"_

"_That's actually a good idea." Felix agreed._

* * *

Felix sat up, painting. So he had a diary somewhere in the penthouse. He smiled. If he found it and showed it to Repairman Frank, maybe Frank would finally believe that Felix was part of the game. Maybe he'd be allowed to do something other that sit and watch everyone else have fun. "I'll go look for it now!" Felix said to himself. "The sooner the better, after all." Whistling, Felix headed for the apartments, sure that his life was about to change forever.


	3. Sugar Rush

** Yes, this took longer than expected. I've been having computer troubles, visiting relatives, homework, you get the idea. But it's here now, so enjoy!**

* * *

Ralph walked through game central station looking for a place that would have candy. "Hero's Duty...nope. Mario...nope. Sonic...nope. Sugar Rush..." Ralph stopped. "What do you know?" Ralph rolled his eyes. "Of course it would be this game." He had never liked Sugar Rush, especially the theme song. Why was most of it in Japanese anyway? But Felix wanted candy, and since he could never leave his game and get it himself...

Ralph hopped on the train, which was painted a ridiculous shade of pink, and rode in. "Felix better like what I pick out for him." Ralph muttered under his breath.

"S-U-G-A-R jump into your racing car say Sugar Rush! Sugar Rush!" the theme song echoed throughout the game.

Ralph sighed. "I'll just grab a quick something and be out of here. Felix will like it." Ralph walked along the trail in front of him. He was honestly repulsed at all of the pink in the game. In fact, he was so repulsed, he wasn't paying attention to where he was going and walked over a fallen peppermint-stick bridge. All of the sudden, the branch gave way and he was falling!

Ralph landed in a pile of Nesquik sand. "Aw crap." Ralph swore and tried to wiggle free from the sand, but to no avail. "Now what do I do?"

A rope dropped down. "Grab on!" yelled a voice.

Ralph did as the voice asked. He heard the roaring of a car engine right before he was roughly pulled out of the sand.

" That was a Double stripe, Ralph. How many times do I have to tell you? Double stripes disappear, _doy_."

Ralph stared at the girl in front of him. She had black hair tied up in a pony tail. Her hair also had candy all over it. The candy-haired girl...like Felix said

The girl laughed. "Is this some kind of joke? Of course we have, stinkbrain!"

Ralph frowned. "Stinkbrain? Are you insulting me?"

The girl's smile fell. "You really...don't remember?"

"I have never seen you in my life." Ralph said. "What's your name?"

Vanellope," said Vanellope. "But...how can you not remember me?"

Ralph shrugged. "How am I supposed to remember what I've forgotten?

"Good point..." Vanellope trailed off. "I suppose Sargent Calhoun might know what to do. Come on, she's supposed to be at my castle soon. She's going to report the results of the perimeter check."

"Perimeter check?" asked Ralph. "What for?"

"Oh yeah." said Vanellope. "You wouldn't remember, would you? It's to check for any signs of Turbo..." Vanellope's eyes widened. " Hey, who's the hero in your game?"

"Repairman Frank." said Ralph confidently. "What?" he asked, noticing Vanellope's silence.

"I think we should go see Calhoun." she said at last.

* * *

"Here it is," said Vanellope. "My castle."

"It looks nice." said Ralph.

Vanellope pushed open the doors. A tall woman with blonde hair stood in front of a throne, tapping her fingers impatiently. "Ralph." she nodded towards him, then turned towards Vanellope "Nothing to report."

"Good," said Vanellope. "Have you been in Fix-it Felix Jr. lately, Sargent Calhoun?"

"Not since the party three days ago." Calhoun answered. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen Felix either."

Ralph raised his eyebrow. "Felix? Felix is a glitch. How can you know him? He's never left his game in his life!"

Calhoun and Vanellope exchanged glances. "He's not a glitch, actually." Calhoun said. "Felix is the hero of his own game, Fix-it Felix Jr."

"Felix? Hero of his own game?" said Ralph, voice full of disbelief. "Then why is he the way he is now?"

"Because of Turbo." said Vanellope. "He must have changed the coding in your game!"

"That's possible?" asked Ralph.

"He did it to my game, took everyone's memories and turned me into a glitch." said Vanellope. "Same thing he's done in your game."

"Well, how are we going to fix my game then?" Ralph inquired.

"I haven't the slightest clue." Calhoun said. "I think I should scope out the scene first."

"We." said Vanellope. "I'm coming too. I'm pretty sure I can leave my game now."

Calhoun shrugged. "Alright then. Let's go."


	4. The Diary

**I apologize for adding another authors note, despite that I said I would avoid it in chapter two. So much for that! I also apologize for the length and lack of excitement in this chapter. Skip it if you want, but it does contain some very important revelations about Felix's past. **

* * *

Felix slipped inside the penthouse without a problem and walked over to the elevator. He hesitated for a minute over which button to press, and decided to go with floor seven. The elevator carried him to a single door, labeled "Felix." Curious as to why a door would have his name on it, Felix opened the door and went inside.

The room was filled with medals. They were all over the walls, on the back of the door, and even on the ceiling. Felix stood for a moment, until he realized that they all read the same thing. Fix-it Felix Jr.

"Oh my land..." Felix murmurerd in awe. "This is amazing!"

Glancing around, Felix saw that the closet was open. On the top row were several sweater vest and long sleeved blue shirts. On the bottom row, there were several pairs of work cloths. Felix took a closer look at the name tag on one of the work shirts. The tag read, "Fix-it Felix Jr.

Felix was confused. This had to have been his room at some point in time. But why couldn't he remember any of it? Was it possible that he was more than some glitch?

Shaking his head, Felix returned to the job that he had originally snuck into the penthouse for. He found the sock drawer his father had mentioned quickly. Amidst the white socks, he found the very same journal that his father in his vision had given him. He opened it to the first page and started to read.

* * *

The first entry was very short.

"October 17, 1983

It has been a year and a day since our game has been plugged in. My father has decided to give me this journal as a gift. I really don't see the point, since I almost never have spare time, between polishing my medals, attending parties, trying to spend some alone time with my father, and not to mention running the game! Speaking of that, the arcade opens in five minutes. I must away."

* * *

Felix paged through several more meaningless pages of daily business. Why did I write all of this? Felix questioned himself. The entries did help in proving his theory though; he was indeed a part of the game, and Frank was not even mentioned once. _But why?_ Felix thought. He tried to search for the answer, but another entry caught his eye first. It was smudged with tears, as was the entry behind it, but Felix could make it out just barely.

* * *

"March 28, 1987

Wheely is gone. I can hardly believe it, but he's gone! He's been eaten by the shark in Jaws, He's dead, and I almost was to. I should have died. It should have been me instead. Wheely saved my life.

Turbo, Speedy, and the rest of the gang from Turbo Time are so darn mad at Q*Bert and I, I don't think it's likely we'll ever be allowed inside their game again. It's also possible that their game might be unplugged because of Wheely's absence. Speedy is the maddest, and the most distressed, because Wheely was his twin brother.

Everyone in the arcade is much more tense as well, because everyone always thought that when you die, you regenerate, no matter what. I guess what happened to Wheely proves us all wrong. It is possible to die for good. Video game characters aren't immortal.

I'm no better really. I've felt so darn crappy, I can barely eat! Father's trying to cheer me up the best he can. He's gotten a grand total of 21 cherries from Pac-Man, which happen to be my favorite food, but I haven't eaten a single one yet. I hope they don't spoil.

* * *

April 2, 1987

My anti-social behavior has finally pushed my father over the edge. Today, he gave me a newspaper from Paperboy and said, "If you don't want to ever leave this room, fine! Here's your new toilet."

I gave him a look. "What?"

"Look, Felix." Father started. "Wheely gave you his life for a reason, and it wasn't so that you can be in here shivering and sobbing like a little girl. I...I can't even begin to imagine what you must feel, but you've got to understand. People can't just go about their daily lives living in fear that they might die. I mean, everyone can die just as easily in their games for good! The instant someone pulls that plug, it's game over!"

"I...I guess you're right." I said.

"Come on, Felix. Let's go upstairs and party. What do you say?"

I said yes. It turned out that he had invited the entire arcade upstairs! I had the time of my life at that party. I'm going to bed now for a quick rest. I've had to much food.

* * *

Felix smiled. His father sounded a little weird, but also amazing. But now he had another question to add to his question about Repairman Frank. Where was his father now?

Felix searched the diary. He saw a brief mention of Turbo going nuts with jealously over a new racing game and causing it and Turbo Time to be unplugged on June 17, 1990. Two years after that, and the last entry of the diary, Felix found the answer to both of his questions.

* * *

February 11, 1992

My father has betrayed my game. He was seen running around in Tappers during arcade hours, throwing barrels of beer around, stealing glasses from Tapper, and loudly singing obscenities. So now Tappers is unplugged, and it's a miracle we weren't unplugged too because fortunately, most humans don't know that my father is part of my game because he only shows up in the cutscene between playing, and even then only if the game has been left alone for more that 20 minutes, which it rarely ever is.

The penthouse made an unanimous vote to kick my father out of the game. I voted to kick him out too, but part of me thinks there's a good reason that he did what he did. But Gene is right; It's to dangerous to keep a possible programing error in our game. We can still go on without a cutscene.

My father showed me the Game's programing room. He explained the duties that I would now have to take over now that he was going. He also told me about Frank. The poor guy was supposed to be the avatar for the second player in two player mode, but he's a virus. He can't even move. Father told me that I had to make sure nobody was going to take him over, whatever that ment. He said I would know if anything ever happened to the game's coding.

I was the only one at the train station to say good-bye. Father says he's going to look for Jack now that he doesn't have any duties to do. I think that's crazy, but he seemed so confident about finding him, I decided to keep my mouth shut. The last thing he said to me was, "Don't let peer pressure ever be the boss of you."

I wish I had asked his side of the story. I wonder why he didn't tell anyone.


	5. Felix's Father

Felix stared at the last page. Memories pushed forward at his brain; the time Ralph went Turbo, the time Litwack bought Root beer Tapper to replace Tapper. A lot of meaningless memories came back too, like writing the invitations for the Pac-man party, which he never ended up sending. But most of all, he remembered his father, handing him his hammer every day in the arcade.

He was Fix-it Felix Jr. This was his game. He belonged here.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps. "Frank!" Gene called. "Come back to the party!"

"In a minute!" Frank called.

Another thought occurred to Felix. If he had been removed from his status as a hero, and Frank was a virus, then Frank was out to hurt him. Thinking fast, Felix jumped out of the window and fell down to the bottom floor and died.

He regenerated, rubbing his bottom. "Ow..." he muttered. "I'm never doing that again as long as I live."

Ralph ran up to him. "What was that for?" Ralph yelled.

"I had to get away from Frank." Felix said. "It's a long story. Anyway, look what I found! I have some of my memory back too."

"That's good Felix." said the woman next to Ralph.

"Excuse me? Do I know you?" Felix asked.

The woman's face fell. "How can you not remember me? We're married!"

Felix's mouth dropped open. "What? I think I'd remember marrying a dynamite girl like you."

"Forget it." said the woman, slowly running her hand over her face. "You don't remember. My name is Sargent Calhoun. The girl next to me is Vanellope von Schweetz." she gestured to a girl with candy all over her black hair. After reading the diary, Felix was no longer shocked that she was real.

"Nice to meet you. Sorry I still have no idea who you are." said Felix, shaking her hand. "Anyway, listen! I've found some interesting stuff out." Felix told everyone about the contents of the diary.

"So you kicked your own dad out of your game?" said Ralph. "That sounds harsh to me."

"It was a majority rules kind of thing." said Felix. "27 yes, 3 no."

Ralph nodded. "So what do we do now? I mean, now that we've figured out you really are the hero of Repairman...I mean, the hero of your own game, Felix?"

"We've got to kick Frank out of course." Felix grinned. "Man, this is gonna be payback for all thirty years...No wait, all 20 years, no wait a minute...um...all of that undetermined time he was in my game!"

"About ten days." said Sargent Calhoun. "Frank's been screwing up your life for ten days."

"No big deal," snorted Vanellope. "Turbo was in my game for six years!"

"That is pretty bad." said Felix.

"Frank's not going down without a fight." Sargent Calhoun turned to Felix. "Do you have any idea where your father is?"

Felix shook his head. "No ma'am. I haven't got any idea in the slightest."

"Yes you do, Felix." said a voice. A man hopped over to them from the train. "How long has it been since you've bothered to see me? Ten years?"

Felix stared at the man. It was his father.


	6. Frank

**First off, I'm going on vacation and starting a new semester! Nothing new for about a week or so!**

**And to the Guest that reviewed with this question:**

**Love it but one question. Wouldn't Turbo want to get some revenge on Wreck-it Ralph for everything? Because it was mostly Ralph's fault that he lost Sugar Rush.**

**Your question will be answered in a few minutes. :)**

**By the way, I have kinda sorta pictures of Frank. Go look on my profile and see!**

"Uh, hi Father!" said Felix.

Felix's father looked the same as he had in Felix's dreams. He didn't even have gray hair or any other sign of aging. "So." said Felix's father. "You've gotten married, and you never thought to tell me?"

"The name's Sargent Calhoun, sir." said Sargent Calhoun, shaking the hand of Felix's father. "I wasn't aware Felix had a living father."

"I guess not." said Felix's father. "My name is Fix-it Felix Sr., but most people call me Steve. It's a long story, don't ask."

"I remember now!" said Felix. "You've spent all of this time at Outlet Central!"

"Now you remember where I was. I suppose that's a good start." said Steve, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "What about all of those other reasons to see me, like telling me you were _married_, for example. Why didn't you at least tell me that? Come on! I'm your dad for Pete's sake! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I...I don't remember. I don't remember marrying her, I don't remember where Outlet Central is... " stammered Felix. "Heck, I barely remember you!"

"You...what?" Steve stared at Felix, mouth opened in shock. "You barely remember...me?" Steve looked around. "Come to think about it, you're usually at a party surrounded by fans this time of day. What's going on around here?"

Felix told him. "And it looks like I'm the only one who remembers anything at all." Felix suddenly glitched. "And I'm glitching for some reason too." he added.

Steve stroked his beard. "It could be because Turbo couldn't pull your coding out and had to cut it instead. That would explain why you seem to remember more that anyone else in this game."

"What's the difference between cutting a wire and pulling it out?" asked Felix.

"Well, if you pull a wire, it's more permanent than if you only cut a wire... something like that. I honestly can't remember." said Steve. "Both are easy to fix though. I think."

"Then how do you fix it?" asked Vanellope.

"I have no idea." said Steve. "But I have a friend who will."

"Well, whoever this friend is, we'll have to wait to see him until tomorrow. Game Central station opens in twenty minutes." said Sargent Calhoun.

"Too bad you won't be there," said a voice.

Felix turned around. "Frank!"

Frank smiled. Felix had decided, well, ten days ago that his smile was the creepiest part of Frank. He always had that same, relaxed smile, even when he was angry.

Frank gave a little flip of his hair. "This is my revenge on Ralph, Felix, and the entire game of Fix-it Felix Jr. but mostly revenge on Ralph."

"How is this revenge on me, and for what?" asked Ralph.

Frank laughed. "You kicked me out of Sugar Rush, Ralph. I was the king there! You took what was rightfully mine! So I took something of yours."

"You weren't even a part of Sugar Rush, Turbo!" yelled Vanellope. "You're a virus!"

"I don't get it. What did you take?" asked Ralph.

Frank/Turbo laughed. "After you kicked me out of Sugar Rush, everyone in Fix-it Felix Jr. looked up to you as a hero. But I knew you were nothing but a bad guy. That's all you are and that's all you'll ever be. All it took was on memory wipe of everyone in the game, and unplugging Felix here. Then all I had to do is hop into Frank's coding and voila! I'm the new hero of Fix-it Felix Jr.!"

"Wait, what do you mean by hop into Frank's coding?" asked Steve.

"I don't have to tell you anything, father." Turbo said.

"You said father." Steve noted.

Turbo's face screwed up into a painful expression for a few seconds. Then Turbo shook his head. "It was just a slip of the tongue, Steve. Anyways, you won't be able to do anything about my hacking. Nor will you get to visit this friend of yours...what's his name?"

"I don't have to tell you anything, son." said Steve.

Turbo made the same face again. "Enough of this! Minions, attack!"

"Everyone run!" yelled Steve. "And don't shoot them, they're not in their own games! They'll die!" he added, looking at Sargent Calhoun.

"I know that!" she yelled. "But they're attacking us. You know that, right?"

Turbo's minions chased after everyone as they ran towards the exit.

Felix was just about to cross over to Game Central Station when suddenly, he bounced back.

"Felix!" Steve yelled.

"Father, I'm a glitch. I can't leave my game. I'm sorry."

"No. Nononononononono!" yelled Steve. He made a move towards Felix.

"You can't do anything, Father. Just save yourself." Felix said. "Besides, if I can't leave this game, Turbo can't take me out either."

"But...but..." Steve stammered.

"Ralph, please take my father out of here." Felix asked.

Ralph obediently picked up Felix's father and carried him.

"Felix! No!" Steve shouted. "Put me down, Ralph!"

But Ralph paid no attention to Steve. The last image Steve had of his son was Paperboy hitting Felix over the head with a newspaper.


	7. Speedy

**Guess what? I got an unexpected snow day, so here's a new chapter!**

-Linebreak

"Put me down Ralph! I have to go back for Felix!" Steve yelled.

"It's dangerous there, Steve!" said Ralph.

"This way, all of you!" Sargent Calhoun pointed to a train station between street Fighters II and Pac-Man. "This should take us to Outlet Central."

"This is going to sound like a stupid question, but don't you two have games to go to?" asked Steve.

"I'm not racing today. Sour Bell said I needed to take the day off or the humans would get suspicious." said Vanellope.

"My men have been trained for this situation," said Sargent Calhoun. "And besides, Felix is much more important than my game."

The train left game central station just as the five minute warning was being announced.

"I've heard rumors that Turbo's back, but I thought they were just...well...rumors. I never thought he was back, much less in my son's game," Steve sighed. "How long has he been there?"

"Ten days," Vanellope told Steve.

Steve raised his eyebrows. "Only ten days? I've been hearing rumors about him for longer."

"What sort of rumors?" asked Sargent Calhoun.

"He's been recruiting homeless characters to take over the arcade, he's been seen in Tappers, he tried to take over a game called Sugar Rush... "

"That last rumor is true. Turbo tried to take over my game about six months ago. But Turbo should have died in that Dr. Pepper and Mentos fountain!" Vanellope told Steve.

"Hm..." muttered Steve. "That's odd. That would do most game characters in. Unless..."

Steve was interrupted by the sudden stop of the train. "We're here," said Steve. "Welcome to Outlet Central."

Outlet Central was huge. Trains departed for all destinations, such as the mall, Logan Snider's house, Mayor Thorn's house, Game Central Station, and many more places. Wires were all over the ceiling, occasionally flashing with blue light. A fountain sat in the middle.

"Welcome to Outlet Central, more commonly known as the power line. It's pretty amazing, don't you think?"

"Woah," Vanellope said.

"Woah indeed," Steve agreed.

"Where's that friend of yours?" asked Sargent Calhoun.

"He spends most of his time at the Tappers in Logan Snider's house. Logan is an arcade game collector, you see," Steve said. He glanced a Vanellope. "By the way, Tappers doesn't let anyone under the age of 21 in, so you'll have to stay here."

"No fair!" yelled Vanellope.

"Those are the rules Vanellope. Either your game has to be on for 21 years or you have to be programed as that age. Sorry," said Steve.

Vanellope frowned. "I'll stay with you." Ralph said quickly.

"I guess I'm going with you then." said Sargent Calhoun.

"Alright then." Steve adjusted his hat. "Let's go."

-LineBreak

Steve took a deep breath. It had been awhile since his last visit to a Tappers game, and he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. _The circumstances were much different then, _he told himself. _This isn't going to turn out the same way._

The inside was just like Steve remembered. Dark, Damp, and smelly.

"Yuck," said Sargent Calhoun. "This is nothing like the Tappers at Game Central station."

"That's because this one sells real beer. The Tappers there sells Root Beer. Litwack's arcade did for a time have one that sold real beer too. I decided to go Turbo and take it down. I can't even tell you how many characters were going crazy because of that game and screwing up on the job."

"That's why you went Turbo!" said Calhoun. "Why didn't you tell Felix though?"

"Because Gene was right," said Steve. "I didn't think, and I almost put our entire game out of commission. Fortunately, I'm such a minor character, most people didn't even notice I was part of Fix-it Felix Jr. So kicking me out of the game wasn't to hard."

Calhoun stared at Steve for a minute. "So you got kicked out. Why did you come back?"

"Well," Steve took a big breath. "It turns out that after you've been homeless for about twenty-some years, you glitch away. Some game characters get a longer time, some less. I wanted to go back to my game, at least for a little while, because I was scared that was going to happen to me."

Calhoun raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

"It's not common knowledge, because video games haven't been around for much longer than that, but it's true. I've seen it happen," Steve said. "But I believe we were looking for my friend, not talking about my past."

"Sorry." Calhoun said.

"Ah. Here he is." Steve pointed to a boy with a red racing helmet with a red stripe. "Speedy," called Steve.

Speedy turned around. His face was a light shade of brown, and he had reddish hair. "Hullo..." muttered Speedy. "What time is it?"

Steve pulled Speedy towards the bathroom.

"Where are we going?" he muttered sleeply.

Steve reached the bathroom, turned on the sink, and started to splash water on Speedy's face.

"Hey..." muttered Speedy, glitching.

"Are you better now?" asked Steve.

Speedy's eyes lit up with recognition. "Hey, it's Slippery Steve! Still playing Rugby?"

"Yep. Nice to see you too, Speedy," Steve said.

"Have you found Jack?" asked Speedy hopefully.

"Nope," said Steve. "I know how much you need his help."

Speedy frowned. "But you said you wouldn't come back until you found him!"

"Plans change. I need your help," said Steve. He explained how Turbo had taken over Fix-it Felix Jr.

"So, you need my coding expertise," said Speedy.

"I'll go back to looking for Jack right after you help Felix. Please?" Steve begged. "I...I'm just not sure that there's enough time to find him."

Speedy nodded. "If you insist. Besides, you've helped me more times than I can count. I suppose it's time I pay you back a favor."

Steve broke into a huge grin. "Great! Let's get started then."


End file.
